The Meaning in a Smile
by seireidoragon
Summary: Jazz stays home and watches over Danny while he's sick.


_**This fic was requested by vampygurl402 for her friend's birthday. I hope arashi wolf princess enjoys this story. For everybody else I would like to state that at the moment I will not be writing a sequel to my other DP story because I need to continue my others but if inspiration strikes I will start writing it. Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or the characters. I would like to mention that the plot of this story takes place sometime before The Ultimate Enemy.**_

The Meaning in a Smile

Sighing, Jazz Fenton walked down the hallway to her brother's room. She wasn't sure how Danny kept getting into these messes but she was definitely glad her parents were currently out. She laughed at the irony of it. They were at a ghost hunting convention while Danny was her at the house sick and unable to control his powers. Thinking back to yesterday, Jazz easily accepted the turn of events.

Friday had been a normal day for Jazz. She went to school, got an A on her math test, which she was very proud of since it wasn't her best subject, and had gone home to work on homework. She did want to get into a good college after all. Imagine her surprise when she comes home to see her parents moving around the house like flies. They wouldn't sit still. Taking a closer look she noticed the suitcases in the living room. She announced she was home to get her parents' attention.

"Jazz, welcome home! How was school today?" Maddie asked after laying down a travel bag.

"It was fine. Nothing unusual and no ghosts attacked the school today. What's going on here?" Jazz inquired, slightly panicking at the thought that she might have forgotten something.

Just before her mother could answer the door opened again and her little brother walked into the room. Instantly Jazz was worried. Her parents didn't seem to notice, as Jack slapped his son's shoulder good-humoredly, but she always paid close attention to him these days. She could clearly see the bags under his eyes and the worn look on his face. There were a few tears in his jeans and shirt. She couldn't see anything major bothering him but the glassy look in his eyes caused her to fret. He didn't look so well but her parents continued to be oblivious as he answered how his day had gone. Suddenly he sneezed and her parents finally took notice of his appearance.

"Sweetie are you okay? You don't look so good." Maddie sent a worried look to her husband, Jack.

"Yea Danny your mother's right. Are you getting a cold?" Jazz's eyebrows shot up at her father's question. That wasn't possible! Danny didn't get sick after he became half-ghost. Not that he knew she had seen him transform before. The only way it would be possible with his heightened immune system was if it was caused by a ghostly virus. Realizing the truth did not relieve Jazz. In fact it made her feel worse. If Danny had a ghost cold, how would that affect his powers? He might accidentally reveal himself as the ghost boy to their parents and she knew he didn't want that. Noticing Danny's nervousness she brought the topic back to the packing.

"So where are you two heading?" Jazz asked this while staring pointedly at the suitcases. Danny seemed to notice them for the first time and confusion settled across his face. Seems he didn't have previous knowledge of this either.

Maddie, startled, looked at her daughter and followed her gaze. "Oh! Your father and I were planning on going to a convention for ghost hunters! All the big ghost hunting experts will be there. We were going to tell you once you both got back but if Danny's sick we can just go next year."

"But Maddie," Was as far as her father got before he was elbowed in the stomach. Maddie glared at her husband. "Um, I mean if Danny needs us then of course we won't go." Anybody could tell Jack Fenton was disappointed but Jazz also noticed the concerned look he sent to Danny. Jazz smiled at her parents.

"You two should go." At her parents' confusion, Jazz continued. "I can stay and take care of Danny. That way you two can go and have fun. It's probably only a little cold, nothing I can't handle." Her dad looked hopeful as both he and Jazz turned to Maddie. "I didn't have any plans this weekend and I have a test on Monday so I can just study while Danny rests."

Sighing, Maddie agreed. "On one condition. You have to call me if it gets any worse and I want at least two updates each day we're gone."

Jazz had agreed which brought her back to where she was now. She reached Danny's room and cracked the door open to check on her little brother. She could see his head peeking out from under the covers and he was lightly shivering. She went back to her room quickly and got another blanket for him. Bringing it into his room, she spread it out over Danny but had to quiet a startled yelp when he suddenly disappeared. She stayed and watched until he became visible again and the shivering had lessened. Once she was satisfied she went back downstairs. It was almost lunchtime and she planned on making Danny some chicken noodle soup.

While heating up the soup she thought back to Danny's reaction yesterday. After their parents had left he had tried to downplay his sickness but Jazz and quickly shot that down when she checked his temperature and realized he had a fever. She had headed him up to his room and into bed with him protesting all the way. She hoped he wouldn't be stupid enough to go ghost hunting while sick because she wasn't sure she could stop him. Speaking of ghosts, she wondered how he got sick in the first place. Sometime later Sam and Tucker stopped by but she made it clear that Danny needed sleep and shouldn't be disturbed. She knew how close they were and didn't want those two trying to sneak in while her back was turned. Danny's fever seemed to get worse overnight and Jazz considered strapping him to his bed when he started floating. He seemed to sleep through all of this and she was grateful. He would panic and berate himself if a little cold was the reason his sister discovered his secret. Not that she didn't already know; but she didn't want to alarm him and cause undue stress.

Really Jazz wanted Danny to tell her himself. She would always look out for him no matter what and if he found out she already knew then so be it but that's not how she wanted it to go. Her was her only little brother and she wanted more than anything for him to trust her and tell her himself. She realized they had drifted apart as they got older and she missed the way he used to follow her. She could remember how she would hold his hand when out it public so that they wouldn't be separated. Once when she got sick he had cried because his big sister was in pain. He had such a kind heart and that hasn't changed. Now though he was actually saving people daily and she couldn't be prouder. Though she hated how much pressure he put on himself. He took all the blame if anything went wrong.

She finished the chicken noodle soup and brought some up for him to eat. When she entered the room she saw a blue mist emit from his mouth. Hopefully his ghost sense was just a side effect of the cold. Danny shuddered and slowly came to as Jazz put the bowl of soup on his bedside table. Pretending nothing had happened she started checking over him.

"I brought you some soup. You need to eat something but if you really don't feel like it I won't force you. How are you feeling by the way?"

Danny cleared his throat. "I'm fine." At his sister's disbelieving look he backtracked. "I'm feeling better than I was earlier. The sleep seemed to do a lot of good for me."

Jazz did notice that his fever had gone down but she decided to give him another dose of medication to be safe. "Do you want any soup? It's better not to take the meds on an empty stomach." Seeing the look of disgust on his face she chuckled. "I know it doesn't taste all that great but it will help you get better little brother." She messed up his already untidy hair. She hoped the medicine would help with a ghost virus at least.

He hesitated before quickly drinking down the awful medicine. "Now give me the soup before I have to cut my tongue off." She watched and made sure he ate the whole thing. When he was done he laid back down yawning. Tucking him in, Jazz quickly placed a kiss on his forehead before he could protest then left taking the empty bowl with her.

Four hours later found Jazz sitting in the living room with her school books on the coffee table in front of her. She would have been in the kitchen but she wanted to be closer to Danny's room in case he called out. She had given her mom a call earlier to update her and then had quietly started studying. Until she heard the stairs creak. Looking up she saw Danny making his way downstairs.

"What are you doing? You should be resting."

Danny looked guilty. "I just wanted some water and I didn't want to disturb you. I didn't realize you had taken up camp in the living room."

Smiling she got up to check his fever. Satisfied she let him be as she went back to the couch. Clearing her stuff she waited for him to come back out. When he did he surprised her by coming to sit next to her. He seemed slightly nervous.

"So Jazz it must be pretty boring watching me while I'm sick."

Why did that sound like he was fishing for a specific answer? Then it dawned on her. He was afraid she'd seen some of his ghost powers. Smiling to herself she responded, "It is boring! I can't even go outside without worrying that you might injure yourself falling off your bed or something." Grinning at him before he could take her too seriously she continued, "I'm kidding. It wasn't a problem and you're my little brother. Of course I would look out for you."

"Thanks Jazz." And he smiled.

Getting inspired, Jazz exclaimed, "I know!" She started cleaning up all her notes. When she was finished she turned to Danny. She almost burst out laughing at the bewildered look on his face. "If you're up for it, why don't we have a movie night?"

She could tell Danny was excited. That night they had dinner and watched movies back to back, taking turns on choosing them. Finally Danny fell asleep. Jazz laid him out on the couch, making sure he was comfy with plenty of blankets.

Sunday came and Danny was much better. His fever was gone and besides a persistent runny nose, was healthy. Their parents came home and told them all about the convention after making sure their precious son was fine. Jazz watched her family interacting. She watched as Danny winced at a particularly bad sounding weapon but smiled at their parents. Jazz would always protect her brother in any way she could for as long as she could. She wanted to protect moments like these where everyone was happy. She would protect her brother's smile.

_**Please leave any comments or concerns below and I will try to message you back soon. Thanks for reading my story and I hope you enjoyed it!**_


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